Our health is a peculiar thing. One moment we could be having a blast, the next minute we can feel so run down that it is hard to get out of bed. But those are just the symptoms of when we’re obviously feeling ill, there are so many health conditions that could be lying under the surface that we’re not even aware of. There might be little signs here and there, but for the most part, we just amble through life with health conditions that could be cured or prevented if we actually knew they were there. So to try and enlighten you a little, we’ve got some weird symptoms to show you that might indicate you having an underlying health condition.

There are a lot of things that happen to our bodies during the night that we might not even realise. So here are a few of the most common. Firstly, you’ve got sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is actually a serious condition that a lot of people might not even realise they have. It happens during the night when breathing is interrupted during sleep. The symptom you might find yourself having is waking up gasping for air. This can be a very frightening symptom, but it is one people tend to ignore. It usually occurs in deep sleep, but there are symptoms of milder cases of sleep apnea that occur when falling to sleep. You will find yourself waking up and feeling as though you need to take a deep breath, or you haven’t taken one in a while. The condition is serious because the periodic breaks in breathing reduce the blood supply to the brain. If you suspect you have something like sleep apnea, it is important to visit your doctors sooner rather than later.

Something a lot of people suffer with during the night is night sweats. But this is often brushed off as being too hot during the night. Whilst that can be a major cause of it, there are other things that could be going wrong. If you find yourself dripping wet during the night, or waking up covered in sweat in the morning, you might benefit from checking out the best sheets for night sweats to try and make cleaning up a bit easier for you. Because if anything, this symptom is rather embarrassing. One of the main things it can be a sign of in the short term is a bacterial infection, this will usually come with other symptoms. One more thing it can be a symptom of, and this is definitely something more serious, is cancer. It is a minor and very uncommon symptom that most people will pass off for being too hot in the night. It can be a sign of cancers such as Leukemia, and it is always best to be safe than sorry.

During The Day

The symptoms that happen during the day are ones that seem to plague us. One symptom that people tend to ignore so much is itchy skin. Itchy skin can be caused by so many different things, and can happen all over the body. If it is happening on the main body of your skin, such as the torsa, chest, arms and legs, it could be a sign of something called eczema. This is something that is so common in young children, but it can occur at any point in a person’s life. It causes dry skin that itches and flakes. If left untreated, it can lead to things such as skin splitting, and the condition getting worse. Using things such as dry skin shower creams, and if you have baths, bath oils such as oilatum to try and soothe the dry skin. If you care for it well enough, it should go away after a while. The colder winter months usually make it worse.

Backache is something that can definitely get in the way of life, especially as we get older. There are multiple causes of this, one of the main being due to posture. If you sit at work all day with your back slouched, you’re eventually going to get some pain. You can buy back braces that slip over your chair and help to keep you in an upright position. This might make things easier for you. Similarly, you can perform stretches every morning and evening to try and improve the position of the spine. In severe cases, back pain could be due to a curvature in the spine. If you are experiencing back pain that lasts longer than three weeks, it is important to see your doctor.

For most people, the challenges of day to day living certainly take their toll. From sitting in commute traffic to spending eight full hours sitting at a desk, most people have had their fill of work by the time that Friday nears. As a result, they often look forward to binge-watching their favorite shows while nestling deep within the soft cushions of their sofas. Binge watching, however, often leads to binge eating, and when paired with prolonged periods of inactivity, it hardly allows people to maintain optimum levels of health. Fortunately, you can enjoy all of your favorite episodes and your favorite comfort foods, without packing on the pounds, raising your cholesterol, or sending your blood sugar sky high.

Why Balance Is So Important

Although the demands of your weekly work routine might be grueling, offsetting this with a totally sedentary weekend is problematic. While people feel like they’re maintaining balance by indulging all of their wants, whims, and needs for relaxation during their time off, what they’re really maintaining is two, dangerous extremes. Balance is something that must be maintained on a day to day basis. It starts by never letting yourself get so overworked that you require a total shutdown of normal functioning just to feel capable again. If you can maintain balance throughout the work-week, then you’ll have plenty of energy and motivation for enjoying a lively, high-energy weekend that leaves you feeling far more refreshed than several days spent nestled in the couch.

Creating A Balanced Mindset

Daily efforts to create a positive and healthy lifestyle that’s largely defined by moderation can also keep you from over-indulging throughout the holiday season. While most people are wont to start drastic diets at the beginning of the year or right before swimsuit season, the holidays are when many consumers start packing on pounds. This is defined as a time of indulgence. Between holiday eating and sedentary, winter afternoons spent relaxing with family and friends, you may find yourself ten to fifteen pounds heavier, right before the new year rolls around. People who are diligent in their efforts to maintain balance yearlong, however, are able to keep their holiday eating in check, even as they maintain consistent workout plans and consistently active lives.

How To Obtain More Balance In Your Life

Moderation starts with making small, smart decisions each and every day. Start packing your lunch at home, rather than eating only high-fat, fast food or deli fare. Use a portion of your lunch break to go for a quick walk, or treat yourself to a trip to the gym right before or after clocking in. Surprisingly, you don’t need hour-long workout sessions to get an incredibly fit physique. If you’re consistent, even just 20 to 30 minutes of structured exercise each day can really make a difference. Moreover, you have to start looking at food as fuel rather than a means for comforting yourself for a life hard-lived. Your efforts to pamper yourself with smart life habits will make you infinitely less likely to consider long hours of watching television and munching on chips and clam dip as being essential for restoring your good spirits.

Getting support from professionals

Sometimes it’s important to get help when you don’t think you can control your health on your own. For those who have a problem with eating healthy and exercise, there are dietitians and personal trainers. For those who feel like they can’t control their drug or alcohol habits, they can feel confident in looking for residential drug treatment for assistance.

Lazy days spent on the sofa are usually a sign of too many, grueling days spent with your nose to the grindstone and without enough healthy, refreshing choices for rejuvenating your body and mind. A healthy diet, daily exercise, and good sleep are all vital for ensuring that you’re never wont to overindulge. If you take good care of yourself every day, you’ll be able to enjoy a few cheat days from time to time, without ever taking relaxation too far.

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Normally, when we consider changing our clothing choices it means changing our style or changing our colour scheme. But, changing our clothing can mean one more thing; it can mean changing our fabric choices. And, if you were to decide to change your fabric choices to far more natural options, such as by choosing clothes that come ready made with natural-fibers, you could reap a host of benefits. What’s more, the earth that you live on could reap a host of benefits, too.

There are plenty of healthy benefits to be found in natural clothing for us humans

There are plenty of health benefits to be had by us humans by switching to natural forms of clothing, and these are benefits that anybody can reap if they only choose to, well, reap them! For instance, as documented on thisnatural clothing website, there are healthy benefits to be found when it comes to switching to natural underwear; these benefits include vital temperature and moisture regulation, bacteria control down below and the fact that they are easier to clean and be made ready for the next wear. So, as you can see, there are health benefits to be had by going au natural, especially with your pants!

Natural clothing choices are far more sustainable that non-natural choices

If you want to help our earth out every time you buy a new piece of clothing, then you should only ever be opting for natural clothing choices. You should be doing so because natural clothes arefar more sustainable than any pieces of clothing that are made with synthetic fibers simply because the latter demands a high amount of energy use and crude oil use during their creation, and the former does not. What’s more, natural clothing choices are made of plant materials, rather than plastic materials, which means they will decompose quicker than their alternatives when they are eventually discarded.

A far better investment can be found in natural clothing

If you’re somebody that appreciates sound investments and saving as much money as you can, then you should seriously consider switching to natural clothing choices. You should be doing so because clothes made of natural fibers hold up over the years considerably better than their rivals, which only means that, should you turn to them in your next clothing choice, you wouldn’t have to continue spending money on new clothes over and over again for years to come. Instead, you’d be able to hang up your new piece of clothing and leave it there, ready to be worn, for practically the rest of time! And if that’s not a good investment, what is?

And, fear not, natural-fiber clothing does not now automatically mean you are going to be itching the whole time whilst wearing them. So, now that you know that and now you’ve seen the benefits above, why not give your wardrobe a complete clear out and replace every piece of clothing that you throw away with far more natural options?

To see more ways in which you, specifically your health, can benefit from the wonders of nature, make sure to head here.

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Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NatureMadePrenatalDHA #CollectiveBias

This year I’ve been working on a very special project; I’ve been creating and growing my own little human!

Baby Thaxton was born on November 14. Isn’t he a doll? We tried for a long time to get pregnant, and I was so thrilled when I found out that I was having him. Even now, a month after his birth, I can hardly believe he’s real!

I think until you get pregnant and have a baby, you don’t actually realize just how much actually goes in to the whole process. When a baby is born we talk about the big delivery day and the pains of labor, and we don’t talk as much about what happens during those 9 months of pregnancy. Over the course of 9 months, I gained about 30 pounds, and I saw and felt my body going through so many changes as a result of this weight gain, hormone changes, and more! Today I’m going to discuss some tips and must-haves to help you stay healthy and feeling good during pregnancy. [Read more…]

But, we rarely take the same care of our minds. Around one in four of us will struggle with mental health issues at some point. Many of us will struggle in silence. Instead of going to the doctor for help, we assume we’ll just snap out of it and ignore it completely. Nor do we take the same care to keep our minds young.

As we age, our memories start to deteriorate, and we can find it harder to organize our thoughts. To some extent this is normal. But, it’s also normal to feel our bodies deteriorate and that doesn’t stop us doing everything we can to keep ourselves looking and feeling young.

You can take the same care of your mind. To keep it at its sharpest for as long as possible.

While some people believe that supplements such as Huperzine A can help, there’s not much in the way of scientific evidence to support this. Instead, you should find ways to keep your mind active and challenged.

Reading is probably the easiest way to keep your brain working. Read books from different genres and spend time learning new facts from non-fiction books. Try to read at least a little every day to give your brain a workout.

Learn a Language

One of the keys to keeping your mind young is using as much of it as you can. We learn to speak when we are toddlers and spend our youth honing our language skills. Then aside from learning the odd new word, this section of your brain is neglected.

Learning a new language gives it a fresh challenge. Try to speak it out loud, as well as reading it in a book. Podcasts and apps can be excellent tools.

Switch Sides

Another way to use more of your brain and give it a challenge is doing things with the opposite hand. Your brain gets so used to the way that you do things day to day; there’s no challenge involved. Doing the same things, with the opposite hand, such as writing or eating, makes your mind work harder.

Anything that makes you think is a workout for your brain. Puzzles like Sudoku and crosswords can make a great alternative to reading and writing.

at Right

Your diet doesn’t only affect your physical health. It can help to boost your memory and other brain functions too. Foods rich in antioxidants, good fats and vitamins can help reduce inflammation, protect against brain disease and help boost your energy levels. Eat plenty of avocado, beets, berries, broccoli, coconut oil, dark chocolate and spinach for the best results.

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Do you ever find yourself sitting to make a list of groceries and feel stuck in a rut with your meal and snack choices for the week? You and about every other meal planner out there feel the exact same way. Whether you are conscious about your budget or about your diet – or both – planning meals requires a creativity that is difficult to come by when you already know what you like. Your diet is often impacted by your lifestyle, and the choices that you make for your meals and snacks each week is going to be influenced by the way you have to juggle your time. For example, if you are working shifts, you’re very likely to grab food as and when you can in the quickest and most convenient form. Microwaved meals and handy snacks are very popular among those who work long hours, as the time it takes to make proper meals for the day is often overridden by the urge to sleep. If you are able to take the time to make proper meals from scratch every day, you are putting your body in a position of energy, wellness and health. Unfortunately, life often gets in the way of this and so convenience items are in favor.[Read more…]

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Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by MONISTAT®. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

Our bodies are always going through changes. Since being pregnant, I’ve learned more and more about this. Nearly every day (and especially in the beginning of my pregnancy) I’ve looked up something related the topic of pregnancy: What symptoms should I expected this week? Is this symptom normal? What medicines can I take?

When it comes to feminine itching, odor, and yeast infections, MONISTAT® is on my list of OBGYN recommended products to use. It offers prescription strength medicine in an over the counter form, which is very convenient for women on the go. MONISTAT® is the #1 doctor recommended OTC brand with a long-term record of success — it has been in use for the treatment of vaginal yeast infections for over 40 years. [Read more…]

Just because a person has difficulty with mobility does not mean that they cannot live a full life. Not being able to use their limbs does mean they cannot do physical activities. With the use of wheelchairs, people can now have a more active lifestyle.

To say that a person is confined to a wheelchair is incorrect, as with the use of a wheelchair, people with limited mobility can get out of the house, travel to other countries, and do physical activities and sports like hiking and basketball.

But in order to make the most out of the wheelchair, it is very important that the right type of wheelchair should be used. Aside from having different styles, some wheelchairs are also manufactured for a variety of purposes.

If you know an active person who will be needing a wheelchair soon, check out some of the tips below to ensure that they can still have that active lifestyle they want.

Get a wheelchair that has durable material – in any investment you make, you want to make sure that you are getting your money’s worth. With your wheelchair, you want to make sure that it will last a lot of years despite the fact that it will undergo wear and tear, especially if the user is an active person. Usual materials for wheelchair include steel, which is strong but heavy; aluminum-magnesium alloy, and titanium carbon fiber, which is the lightest but most expensive.

The wheelchair should be stable – another thing that is very much needed for a wheelchair user is stability, whether you are an active person or not. Because of limited mobility, some may have little to no use of their legs. If the chair is not stable, there is a possibility that in a little bit or rough terrain or in a slope, the chair may tilt, causing the user to fall. An injury may happen and would only make the user’s physical condition worse. If the user can sit comfortably in a wheelchair, maximum stability happens. Make sure the chair is the right size for the user, meaning the seat will not be too wide or too narrow.

Consider what type of tires the wheelchair has – take note of the physical activities that the user would want to do. Do your research as there are different types of tires, with variations in size and material. There are some tires that have little shock absorption, and there are also sports tires that require less energy to propel it.

Get a chair that is lightweight and foldable – if the person using the chair likes to go on camping and hiking trips, you would want a chair that is lightweight so that it will not require too much effort to bring it anywhere you go. A foldable chair is also convenient as it does not require a lot of space when placed inside the car. The KD Smartchair wheelchair has been manufactured with those specifications, so it is perfect for active persons who want to live their life to the fullest.

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Did you know that fat is healthy for you and your family? The media has demonized fat as the nutrient responsible for the development of heart disease and other physical health issues. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Why Carbs Are Bad for You

Refined carbohydrates such as sugar and flour create inflammation in the intestinal wall of the GI tract. This inflammation prevents the trillions of gut biomes living in your gut from doing their task of assimilating the nutrition from the food you eat. With assimilation impaired, metabolism slows, and immune function declines.

This inflammation will spread from your digestive system into the nervous and lymphatic systems as well, leading to foggy thoughts and impaired cognitive function. Carbohydrates also spike insulin, and frequent consumption of sugar and refined carbs can cause blood sugar disorders such as diabetes and health issues such as obesity.

The Health Benefits of High-Fat Diets

#1 Prevent Diabetes

With a high-fat diet that is low in carbohydrates and free of refined carbs will keep your blood sugar at baseline levels. When blood sugar is elevated, insulin peaks and therefore; if you avoid carbs and increase fats, you will decrease your fasted blood sugar reading. In some cases, eating a carb-free, a high-fat diet can eliminate type 2 diabetes in people suffering from the disease.

#2 Prevent Obesity

Refined carbohydrates contain a significant amount of calories with no nutritional value. A large soda can carry as many calories as your total daily allowance while offering no nutritional value other than a massive spike in insulin and an energy crash a few hours later. With this kind of mal-nutrition available of every street corner in the western world, it’s no surprise that obesity has become a major health issue in the United States.

By eliminating the carbs and replacing them with healthy fat sources, you will avoid the blood sugar spike and crash. Fats will provide you with a slow-releasing energy source that is rich in nutrients and anti-oxidants.

#3 Heart Health

A diet that is high in refined carbohydrates is detrimental to your cardiovascular health. Eating refined carbs increases total cholesterol in the blood and raises the ratio of bad cholesterol to good

cholesterol. By replacing the carbs with healthy fats, reverses this disorder, bad cholesterol drops while good cholesterol rises and total cholesterol in the blood drops to safe levels.

#4 Eliminate ADHD

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder is a challenging mental disorder to live with, especially for a child that’s full of energy. However, did you ever stop to think that maybe the diet has something to do with it? Eliminating refined carbs and replacing them with healthy fats can have an amazing effect on people living with ADHD.

#5 Increased Immune Function

Less inflammation means stronger metabolism and a healthy immune system that can fight off disease and infection.

In Closing

Combining a healthy diet with exercise is the best way to live a fulfilling life at your maximum human potential. For some workout tips, visit our site and try out our program. With a little dedication and commitment, you could get results within a month and be on the way to good health.

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Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AfterDifferin #CollectiveBias

Summer is almost here! It’s time for fun in the sun and good times! We all want to look our best this summer, from the way we dress to having perfect looking skin. Today I’m going to discuss six tips to help you have healthier looking skin.

1. Use a Treatment like Differin® Gel. Differin® Gel is the first and only prescription strength retinoid for clearing and preventing acne, and it is now available over the counter. It’s the newest advancement and ingredient in the OTC acne category in over 30 years! The product works to clear breakouts from deep in the pores where they start to prevent breakouts before they begin, and over time the product helps to restore your skin’s texture and tone. Differin® Gel is not used in the same way as a spot treatment. In order to get the best results, you should apply a thin layer all over the face, once a day, every day.

Please use caution when using Differin® Gel with more than one acne treatment or glycolic acid product because this could lead to irritation.[Read more…]